Crude oil is produced and processed in oil refineries all over the world. Crude oil includes a mixture of hydrocarbons with a wide variety of molecular weights, sulfur compounds, nitrogen compounds, and other compounds. Oil refining apparatuses separate the different compounds to produce various products, and many of these products are further processed. For example, sulfur compounds may be removed and hydrocarbons that boil within a prescribed range may be isolated for use as fuel. Specific hydrocarbons, such as para-xylene, may be produced and/or separated. Some process streams are further processed to produce compounds with a higher value or more demand, such as the cracking of heavy oils to produce diesel fuels or gasoline with high cetane or octane ratings, respectively. The refining of crude oil is an important component of the world economy.
Oil refining apparatuses typically include many different process units connected together, where the process units may be sized for large scale production. As such, oil refining apparatuses are expensive to build and operate. The cost to build and operate an oil refining apparatus can be prohibitive. Therefore, there is a need for oil refinery configurations that reduce the equipment count and thereby reduce the installation and operating costs of oil refinery apparatuses.
Accordingly, it is desirable to develop methods and oil refining apparatuses for producing hydrocarbons from crude oil that co-process similar streams. In addition, it is desirable to develop methods and oil refining apparatuses for producing hydrocarbons with reduced equipment counts over traditional oil refinery configurations. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present embodiment will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and this background.